The design code for Upton guides the overall character of the community but allows flexibility when it comes to designing buildings for this high-volume housing development. Designed by KRT Associates.

This initial phase of a major urban extension of c. 1382 homes less than 3 miles to the south west of Northampton centre is one of the first housing schemes to be delivered according to a design code produced by a partnership of landowner and local authority interests, which also provided advanced site infrastructure.

It demonstrates how a high quality public realm can be achieved by volume house builders through adherence to design code principles and through careful monitoring of their implementation. Also notable are the way flood attenuation measures have been integrated into the design of public space and the way in which a high environmental performance can be achieved by dwellings which are not unusual in appearance. Affordable housing, constituting 22% of the homes, is pepper potted throughout the site and includes 4 wheelchair units.